DM Question Time

[Hussar]

Ok, gonna try to answer these without reading the thread first, then go back and see what everyone else had to say.

Having DMed for some time now, I have some questions that I'd like to hear answered from other DMs. I play 4e but that really doesn't make all that much of a difference to your answers; so if you only play 3.5, answer as if I do too.

1. Too much money: My players made me proud by using my own rules against me to quadruple their money, and now they have way too much for 1st level characters. I want to reduce their gold without giving them too much in return; I've been giving them additional rituals in the hope they'll spend some money casting them, but no luck so far. In other games I've offered them magical items at 100% value, which as worked, but in this particular game I'm trying to make magical items a rarity.

1. 
   
   Ok, first off, not sure how they managed to do this, but, quadruple their money for a first level character isn't really going to matter in the long run. A few levels from now, that money become pocket change.
   
   My advice, don't sweat it. Or, if it really bothers you, offer to let them buy something permanent in the campaign world, like a house or a tower or some such thing. Makes for a nice base, great for grounding the players in the game world and source of many adventure hooks.
   
   My second bit of advice - don't take it away from them. Nothing is worse than the players actually being smart and getting ahead, only to have the DM pull the rug out from under them. HUGE disincentive to ever try anything smart again. They earned it, let them enjoy it.
   
   

   [*]Alternatives to magical items as loot: I've been handing out potions, gemstones, art items, ritual books, wondrous items and information. Yet my players keep looking at me expectantly, waiting for the magic hat of flying donkeys. Suggestions?

   
   Well, what's wrong with the magic hat of flying donkeys? If that's what they want, give it to them.
   
   

   [*]Passive perception and taking 10: One of my players keeps trying to use his passive perception to make perception skill checks, but I'm insisting that he roll for them. The rules say a character can 'take 10' but I think it's a stupid rule; I only use passive insight and perception when the character isn't making an active check, as you're supposed to, eg. noticing a trap without a check, realizing that you're being lied to without a check, etc.

   
   I'm not a rules guru in 4e, but in 3e, you could take 10 whenever you weren't seriously stressed by something bad about to happen to you. Again, why force the player to do stuff that he doesn't want to do. He's become Mr. Average, which means he'll beat average bad guys, but, anyone who's specialized will walk all over him.
   
   Remember, the bad guys can Take 10 as well. So long as the bad guy's hide check is one better than this guy's passive perception, this guy has a serious problem.
   
   

   [*]Stopping mid-dungeon: Whenever we call it for the night, I tell my characters that they were able to take an extended rest at the next session to reset their HP, Healing Surges, etc. How do you handle this?

   
   Seems fine to me as a house rule. Means that the start of every session, you are good to go and giddyup. Might be a bit wonky if you stopped a session in the middle of a fight, but, meh, kinda fun anyway. I like it actually.
   
   

   [*]Food and amenities in dungeon crawls: The adventurers kit contains all that is needed to survive for a few days, but we've never kept a track of it. Does anyone else?

   
   I have tracked this and I've not tracked this. At the end of the day, it depends on the campaign. Bog standard fantasy campaign where the party is never all that far from somewhere they could resupply? Not going to worry about it. Dark Sun? Well, maybe that might get some supply tracking going.
   
   

   [*]Role-playing XP: I'm offering 40xp for good roleplaying in game, but I try not to give the same player roleplaying xp twice in a session. when I do so I tell the player why I gave them it, and how they could get it again. How does this play out for other DMs in the long run?

   
   I think 40 xp is very, very low for this. It's not even 10% of the xp for a session typically. After about third level, this isn't even really an incentive. I'd go with a 10% times the xp needed for next level as a bonus. That's an incentive.
   
   

   [*]Tactics: At a small scale, how do you handle tactics? I've had some good sessions where I used mixed units to make a tactical battle, in particular one game where I used a mixture of swordsmen, halberdiers, and archers to good effect. But what about other things like retreat and surrender?

Those are the questions I have for now, looking forward to hearing what other DM's have to say on these matters. Thanks!

-Dave

Retreat and surrender. There's two big issues at a lot of tables. I'd advise sitting down with the players during an after session bull session and bring it up. Gauge their reactions. Are they just going to slaughter everything? Are they interested in dealing with prisoners? Do they think that if they let anything escape, you're going to bring down the hammer on them? Find out what they think and plan around that.

If you want them to take prisoners, then most of your prisoners have to behave themselves. If every prisoner is nothing but a huge PITA, constantly berating the PC's, trying to escape or attack at every opportunity, that sort of thing, then they'll stop taking prisoners. OTOH, if the prisoner gives information/treasure and becomes something of a short term NPC to interact with, then I think you'll see more prisoners being taken.

 

[Pbartender]

Information is a good one and the multiple suggestions for important NPCs
who can be helpful (either immediately or in the future) is also always useful. But I doubt it will make your players feel less "cheated" (for lack of a better word) to have a "favor" from some NPC than to have a cool magical weapon they can hit things with.

Just to be clear... The idea of "favors" is a little more concrete than that.

You can think of it as an imaginary in-game expense account gratned by a particular NPC or organization.

Or, think of it as money that can be only be spent by purchasing goods or services from a specific NPC or organization.

For example...

A group of PCs rescues a band of pilgrims from bandits that were holding them hostage. The local Pantheon of Churches is quite greatful and throws a big ceremony and banquet, where the heroes are honored and the pilgrims welcomed home. As a reward, instead of giving the PCs a Level 8 magic item, as the adventure would normally demand, they are granted 3,400 gp (the monetary equivalent of a Level 8 magic item) in "favors" from the Pantheon of Churches. The players can then cash in those "favors at any time later. The favors can take a lot of forms, from material...

Perhaps the Priests of Moradin forge some custom magic weapon for them... Maybe the Librarians of Ioun allow the spellcasters to make a few copies of rare Rituals found only their archives...

To the more esoteric...

Obtaining a land grant or in-town real estate from the Erathites... Gaining the use of a sailing ship and crew from the Avandrans...

Anyway, the idea is to assign a monetary value to the services rendered, and simply subtract them from the "favors" still owed to the PCs. In the end, the PCs still get concrete rewards out of it, it's just a little more roleplaying-ish way of giving them out, and the players get just a little bit of say on when and what form the reward takes.

 

[Celebrim]

I have a lot of varied terrain in my encounters, and it works really well. For example, in the fight I mention above, with archers and swordsmen and halberdiers, they were fighting in a burning bar. Every round, the fire would spread, and at the start I made them aware that there was a water pump outside. They failed to put out the fire and it spread until the players were separated from their enemies, who came back to haunt them at a later date. I was primarily interested in things like tactical retreat, archers surrendering if there's no melee units, etc. I try to work this into my combat as much as possible but I always feel like I could be doing more.

Ok, good. Sounds like you are on solid ground already.

As far as retreat goes, disciplined and intelligent creatures just won't do it unless they've previously prepared a plan for it. Retreating is the most difficult manuever you can attempt, and the most dangerous. In the ancient world particularly, the vast majority of casualties typically occurred during the retreat, so that in many ways you could say that the goal of ancient warfare was inducing the other side to retreat.

The problem with retreat is that if you retreat in good order, you typically can't accomplish the goal of the retreat - that is, separation from the enemy, unless you had it to begin with. And if you don't retreat in good order, then you are completely vulnerable. So, the manuever is so risky that unless they have a good place to retreat to, smart disciplined troops just won't do it. Instead, they'll try to parley or surrounder, because retreat - especially at the small unit tactical scale - is generally pointless.

In fact, American troops are trained to just not do it. The incculated response they are supposed to have is to attack through an ambush, rather than trying to retreat out of it the way they came.

The PC's typically don't retreat for basically the same reasons. It doesn't accomplish much of anything unless the opponent is much slower than they are.

Preparing for a retreat requires careful planning and favorable terrain.

That is another question I wanted to ask; the big bad. How to get him out of a combat situation in a way that doesn't piss off the players? Especially if the battle is going their way. Jump through a portal when bloodied is one thing, but in a game where I was playing the DM forced us to flee when we had him down to 4hp. I felt robbed.

Careful planning and favorable terrain. Pretty much, if he doesn't have something to jump through, he's not going to get away. When I have BBEG that I intend to escape, I typically set up the following in some combination:

a) The BBEG has a mode of movement that the players don't have - swim, climb, fly, merge with stone, merge with plants, etc.
b) The BBEG has an 'escape hatch', such as a trapped corridor that drops a stone block or porticlus behind him, or a lever or other trigger that drops him down a chute or similar quick get away. Beyond the 'escape hatch' the BBEG has prepared a simple maze that includes a secret door so that the obvious passages out are false leads. Often, these lead to some trap intended to delay or kill pursuers.
c) The BBEG intends to flee as soon as the PC's arrive, and the entire dungeon with it's traps and minions is merely a delaying device to provide him warning and ample time to do so. While the PC's are looting chests, taking 20 to search for traps, etc., the BBEG has thrown saddle bags on a fast horse and is galloping madly out the back door.
d) The BBEG keeps a minion in reserve that is especially good at providing delays to pursuers, and this minion shows up just after combat with the BBEG begins to cover the BBEG retreat.

Obviously, the higher the level of the PC's, the more elaborate the measures must be to successfully flee.

If the PC's thwart the NPC's (and your) plans, don't punish them for it. Ammend the hidden plot if need be so that the revealed BBEG is actually the minion of the true mastermind, but don't pull strings to save the NPC. Better yet, never have a plot that depends solely on an NPC's survival and always have another mastermind or plot waiting in the wings. Few things irk the players (and rightfully so) like an NPC who enjoys DM protection, but you seem to be well aware of that.

Opinions?

Why do they need to see the loot list ahead of time?

 

[Pbartender]

If you want them to take prisoners, then most of your prisoners have to behave themselves. If every prisoner is nothing but a huge PITA, constantly berating the PC's, trying to escape or attack at every opportunity, that sort of thing, then they'll stop taking prisoners. OTOH, if the prisoner gives information/treasure and becomes something of a short term NPC to interact with, then I think you'll see more prisoners being taken.

I was a little surprised, recently, my players actually ended up kind of making friends with opponents that surrendered... Mercenaries who were hired to go after the PCs -- "It's just business, nothing personal, eh?" -- but weren't paid enough to die over it. In one instance, the PCs turned around and rehired the captured mercenaries to help them clear out a camp of gnoll bandits.

I was rather proud of my players over that one, and now those mercenaries will be recurring and modestly friendly NPCs.

 

[steeldragons]

Pbartender- That does sound MUCH better than how I was thinking of it.

 

[the Jester]

Having DMed for some time now, I have some questions that I'd like to hear answered from other DMs. I play 4e but that really doesn't make all that much of a difference to your answers; so if you only play 3.5, answer as if I do too.

I am currently running 4e, so here we go...

1. Too much money: My players made me proud by using my own rules against me to quadruple their money, and now they have way too much for 1st level characters. I want to reduce their gold without giving them too much in return; I've been giving them additional rituals in the hope they'll spend some money casting them, but no luck so far. In other games I've offered them magical items at 100% value, which as worked, but in this particular game I'm trying to make magical items a rarity.

1. 
   
   Give less treasure than normal for a while. It should even out before too long. And I'm not sure how they did this, but take measures to ensure that it isn't easy to replicate- whoever they got that money from certainly doesn't want to lose any more! In the meantime, let them enjoy being rich.
   
   

   [*]Alternatives to magical items as loot: I've been handing out potions, gemstones, art items, ritual books, wondrous items and information. Yet my players keep looking at me expectantly, waiting for the magic hat of flying donkeys. Suggestions?

   
   Residuum or ritual components. (These have the added benefit of encouraging more ritual use.) Deeds to property. Inclusion in a will (imagine an 80-year-old man asking the pcs to kill some monster, and as a reward, he'll put them in his will so that they'll be rewarded at some nebulous time in the future). Fancy clothes. Valuable books. Teleport circle coordinates. Exotic pets. A statue or monument in the pcs' honor.
   
   
   

   [*]Passive perception and taking 10: One of my players keeps trying to use his passive perception to make perception skill checks, but I'm insisting that he roll for them. The rules say a character can 'take 10' but I think it's a stupid rule; I only use passive insight and perception when the character isn't making an active check, as you're supposed to, eg. noticing a trap without a check, realizing that you're being lied to without a check, etc.

   
   That's how I run them too, but I don't really have a problem with taking 10 in stress-free situations.
   
   

   [*]Stopping mid-dungeon: Whenever we call it for the night, I tell my characters that they were able to take an extended rest at the next session to reset their HP, Healing Surges, etc. How do you handle this?

   
   Oh HELL no. When we stop for the night, we keep track of expended powers, hit points and healing surges, etc. It's up to the pcs to manage their resources. If you do this, you'll never have the glory of a 13-encounter day.
   
   For that matter, it's quite possible that the pcs might not be able to retreat and rest in peace (har har) if they don't finish the dungeon off.
   
   

   [*]Food and amenities in dungeon crawls: The adventurers kit contains all that is needed to survive for a few days, but we've never kept a track of it. Does anyone else?

   
   Oh yes! This is a matter of taste, but to me, tracking things like rations and arrows is very important- those are limited resources and replenishing them takes time and money, possibly giving my bad guys time to construct traps or recruit new monsters to replace some of their dead.
   
   

   [*]Role-playing XP: I'm offering 40xp for good roleplaying in game, but I try not to give the same player roleplaying xp twice in a session. when I do so I tell the player why I gave them it, and how they could get it again. How does this play out for other DMs in the long run?

   
   I am not presently using roleplaying xp in any systemized way. The DMG2 suggests a reward equal to a single monster of the party's level for about 15 minutes of good roleplaying, but I think that's excessive.
   
   In 4e, I award roleplaying xp pretty much like quest xp. Also, I'll do a lot of impromptu skill challenges and the like. To top it off, when the pcs are just roleplaying with no challenge to overcome, I'll award a few extras once in a while.
   
   Really, though, imho 4e advancement is fast enough already.
   
   3e was too, but I cut monster xp in half to accommodate my roleplaying xp system, which went like this: There were four categories that I awarded xp in: class, race, alignment and personal. If you could make a reasonable case that you roleplayed a given category, it was worth (25 x the level of the highest level pc in the party) xp, so if you got all four, you would earn 100 xp/level.
   
   The only way that this worked is because I was extremely liberal in awarding these xp. There were times when a pc wouldn't receive all four awards, but they were usually in extremely combat-heavy sessions of if the player was only there for an hour or something. But for instance, say you were playing a LG human paladin and the party was in your home town. You could call going and praying at the church for class, visiting your home town for personal, spending some time helping clean up the streets for alignment and spreading the tale of your adventures around town as race.
   
   That said, there were a couple of restrictions. You couldn't call the same thing for more than one category (our paladin above couldn't call cleaning the streets as both alignment and personal, for instance), and you couldn't call something that amounted to simply using your abilities (for instance, a cleric couldn't call "I cast all my spells as healing" for class).
   
   A variation that I really liked replaced these four categories with player-determined traits. Each pc had a list of personality traits. Instead of the four categories above, a pc could earn xp for up to 10 traits at a rate of 10 xp/level per trait. These traits included things like "speaks with a lisp", "hates spiders", "likes to wear blue", "tries to appear mysterious", etc.
   
   A further variation we introduced to that almost immediately was the idea that a starting pc would have fewer traits, but each session the player could add one until the pc had 10 or even more- but you could only earn the xp for 10 categories. So eventually you might have 12 or 13 to choose from.
   
   I found that even low-roleplay players enjoyed this system and it really encouraged them to roleplay more. Again, interpreting the system very liberally, most pcs hit 7-10 of their categories most sessions.
   
   

   [*]Tactics: At a small scale, how do you handle tactics? I've had some good sessions where I used mixed units to make a tactical battle, in particular one game where I used a mixture of swordsmen, halberdiers, and archers to good effect. But what about other things like retreat and surrender?

I try to run monsters like I think they would behave. Goblins and kobolds are certainly prone to retreat, while orcs and gnolls are wilder and more prone to fight to the death. When in doubt, I'll roll 1d20 to get a rough idea of how strong the creature's morale is holding- if I roll a 1, it probably breaks or surrenders, while if I roll a 20, it probably keeps up the fight to the bitter end.

If the pcs retreat and the monsters are in good shape, they probably pursue. If the pcs surrender, the monsters might ransom, sacrifice, enslave, sell, force a favor from or even marry them into the clan, depending on the circumstances.

 

[ExploderWizard]

If you want them to take prisoners, then most of your prisoners have to behave themselves. If every prisoner is nothing but a huge PITA, constantly berating the PC's, trying to escape or attack at every opportunity, that sort of thing, then they'll stop taking prisoners. OTOH, if the prisoner gives information/treasure and becomes something of a short term NPC to interact with, then I think you'll see more prisoners being taken.

This in spades. In fact this same principle applies to a larger pool of tactics and options beyond taking captives. If a particular activity can produce a noticeable benefit then the chances of repeat occurances increase dramatically.

Ok, good. Sounds like you are on solid ground already.

As far as retreat goes, disciplined and intelligent creatures just won't do it unless they've previously prepared a plan for it. Retreating is the most difficult manuever you can attempt, and the most dangerous. In the ancient world particularly, the vast majority of casualties typically occurred during the retreat, so that in many ways you could say that the goal of ancient warfare was inducing the other side to retreat.

The problem with retreat is that if you retreat in good order, you typically can't accomplish the goal of the retreat - that is, separation from the enemy, unless you had it to begin with. And if you don't retreat in good order, then you are completely vulnerable. So, the manuever is so risky that unless they have a good place to retreat to, smart disciplined troops just won't do it. Instead, they'll try to parley or surrounder, because retreat - especially at the small unit tactical scale - is generally pointless.

In fact, American troops are trained to just not do it. The incculated response they are supposed to have is to attack through an ambush, rather than trying to retreat out of it the way they came.

The PC's typically don't retreat for basically the same reasons. It doesn't accomplish much of anything unless the opponent is much slower than they are.

Preparing for a retreat requires careful planning and favorable terrain.

Generally this is true which is why it is important to consider the nature of the enemy. An intelligent/disciplined foe might certainly seek to parley or offer surrender terms rather than flee but not all enemies have that knowledge. Chaotic and dimwitted humanoid rabble might run like frightened animals if morale breaks. I like it when the tactics and behaviors of NPCs/monsters fits their personalities even if what they end up doing isn't very smart.

 

[WizarDru]

That is another question I wanted to ask; the big bad. How to get him out of a combat situation in a way that doesn't piss off the players? Especially if the battle is going their way. Jump through a portal when bloodied is one thing, but in a game where I was playing the DM forced us to flee when we had him down to 4hp. I felt robbed.

First off: Hi! Welcome to the boards!

Now then: a few varied thoughts and then some specific points.

1) Punishing the players, IMHO, is never a winning strategy. You are not their opponent, so there's no reason to treat them as the enemy. Several good suggestions have appeared to this point and I'll just say that my general opinion follows the guideline: don't arbitrarily take the money away or otherwise obviously deprive them of it just because you think they have too much. Clearly, they don't or they wouldn't be clamoring for magic items.

That said, there have been several decent suggestions above for ways that make sense in-game and out-game to adjust things without making it seem like you're yanking their victory away unceremoniously.

I'll keep with having set loot items during dungeons as well, in order to ensure that they get appropriate magical weapons and armor (which I don't intend to include on the loot lists-I'll keep that under tighter control). Opinions?

Personally, I poll players periodically on what they want and depending on the situation, I either grant them what they want or tell them (as I have done several times) something like "Grandmother Squirrel is pleased that you have saved her people from the Cruel Wizards and rewards you with several boons...this results in three items Level 4, 5 and 6; these items cannot feature death magic (as she would not grant such) or anything extraplanar except the FeyWild. Let me know what you choose and assuming I don't disapprove, it's yours." This helps them plan better. I also often have some characters (particularly clerics and paladins) have their magic items upgraded by their deity: ("As you worship at the altar, you are blinded by a bright light. You find your sword in your hand, glowing with divine providence. Amaleena has smiled upon you: your weapon's bonus is now +2."

I hope that makes it clearer. I'm a little confused about when it is appropriate to take 10, but I am going to continue to house-rule it in this way, similarly for insight ("You believe he is not telling you the whole truth. Make an insight check to confirm your belief").

I see what the player is driving at, but I think your interpretation is reasonable.

1. Keeping the big bad alive without cheating the players.
2. How to deal with a player who doesn't RP when the others do. I have a player who enjoys playing but the other players seem to want him to get into character. He's trying, but he doesn't seem to have a definition for who his character is or what motivates him. Should I give him pointers, or let the other players try and bring this out in-game?

Thanks for everything guys, this has been very insightful.

-Dave

OK, the first one is a classic problem. The real question, though, is not 'how do you keep him alive', but 'why is he even bothering to fight them?'. If he's a BBEG, then he should be way out of their league...and should treat them accordingly. If he's NOT out of their league, then he's just a bad guy, not a BBEG (TM). The Great Goblin can get killed...The Witch King probably doesn't even acknowledge so weak a threat.

Alternately, he may not be the REAL bad guy. If he's sufficiently powerful, he may be using a proxy. Sure, you've killed this puppet of mine, but really, did you think me fool enough to show myself to the likes of YOU? Now I know what you look like, but you'll never see me until it's too late. Sleep well, heroes.

As for your player....you can't MAKE someone roleplay, even assuming he enjoys it...which he may not. I'd see if you can figure what motivates him and try to engage him that way.

 

[Pbartender]

...or tell them (as I have done several times) something like "Grandmother Squirrel is pleased that you have saved her people from the Cruel Wizards and rewards you with several boons...this results in three items Level 4, 5 and 6; these items cannot feature death magic (as she would not grant such) or anything extraplanar except the FeyWild. Let me know what you choose and assuming I don't disapprove, it's yours." This helps them plan better. I also often have some characters (particularly clerics and paladins) have their magic items upgraded by their deity: ("As you worship at the altar, you are blinded by a bright light. You find your sword in your hand, glowing with divine providence. Amaleena has smiled upon you: your weapon's bonus is now +2."

+1UP

I've used both of these tactics and similar variations* in the past (, and they've generally been well received.

*In a recent adventure, while exploring the depths of an abandoned magical mine, the PCs ran across a few tons of raw residuum ore that was sitting stored in a couple of mine carts. With a modest investment of time and money to caravan it back to civilization and refine it, they had several thousand gps worth of residuum to make into whatever they wanted.

 

[Festivus]

Too much money: My players made me proud by using my own rules against me to quadruple their money, and now they have way too much for 1st level characters. I want to reduce their gold without giving them too much in return; I've been giving them additional rituals in the hope they'll spend some money casting them, but no luck so far. In other games I've offered them magical items at 100% value, which as worked, but in this particular game I'm trying to make magical items a rarity.

Are they carrying around wads of coin? Where are they storing it? Perhaps the banker embezzled? Perhaps they get robbed? Resurrection costs can be high too, so kill one of them off

Alternatives to magical items as loot: I've been handing out potions, gemstones, art items, ritual books, wondrous items and information. Yet my players keep looking at me expectantly, waiting for the magic hat of flying donkeys. Suggestions?

Ritual components are always good, especially expensive ones. Favors another, or perhaps a boon that lasts for a level or two.

Passive perception and taking 10: One of my players keeps trying to use his passive perception to make perception skill checks, but I'm insisting that he roll for them. The rules say a character can 'take 10' but I think it's a stupid rule; I only use passive insight and perception when the character isn't making an active check, as you're supposed to, eg. noticing a trap without a check, realizing that you're being lied to without a check, etc.

Make things harder to spot perhaps if there is a reason for it. Why penalize someone who put training into perception? Take 10 can be done if they aren't harried by anything... if they were being chased by a pack of wolves and he wanted to use the passive I would say no chance.

Stopping mid-dungeon: Whenever we call it for the night, I tell my characters that they were able to take an extended rest at the next session to reset their HP, Healing Surges, etc. How do you handle this?

Wandering monsters! If they take precautions and give a reasonable watch out schedule, but still remember an encounter is going to prevent the extended rest.

Food and amenities in dungeon crawls: The adventurers kit contains all that is needed to survive for a few days, but we've never kept a track of it. Does anyone else?

Not usually, but if there is an extended journey I make ask them to make survival checks to get through. Running out of food can become a great skill challenge to forage up / steal / safely prepare mushrooms.

Role-playing XP: I'm offering 40xp for good roleplaying in game, but I try not to give the same player roleplaying xp twice in a session. when I do so I tell the player why I gave them it, and how they could get it again. How does this play out for other DMs in the long run?

I sometimes offer xp for good journaling. I am not a fan of rewarding at the table for role play but if I were, I would probably let the players decide who gains the bonus xp. 40XP won't mean as much as they level up, think of scaling it with levels to make it meaningful.

Tactics: At a small scale, how do you handle tactics? I've had some good sessions where I used mixed units to make a tactical battle, in particular one game where I used a mixture of swordsmen, halberdiers, and archers to good effect. But what about other things like retreat and surrender?

Really depends on the situation and the creature intelligence. A gelatinous cube would probably just slide toward a food source, where a enemy wizard might bark tactical commands to it's underlings. I just like to make things challenging, take advantage of their own lair if it's the case, they know it better than anyone else.